Izanami
by WashuRight
Summary: See through blind eyes. Feel the colors of the people around you. Witness the slow transformation of the girl of silver through her encounters with the man who is darker than black. Yin x Hei
1. It started with little things

Looking back upon it, it seemed to start with little things.

Meeting Hei hadn't seemed like the life changing moment it had been. As far as Yin had been concerned, he was a contractor, and she had to assist in his missions. That was about as much thought on the subject that her programming as a doll allowed her.

Keeping her blind gaze off to the side, she used her other sense to get to know him and the others. She would need to be able to identify them, and she had no particular need of her specter. She did not use it for sight beyond what was necessary. She was used to the darkness.

"Listen, the syndicate says we're to work together from now on. I don't like it at all, but I'm going to listen to them, and if you're smart, you will too," a gruff voice, hard and heavy. The man who was to be called Huang seemed to give off the color yellow. Yin couldn't see the color yellow without her specter, but sometimes people gave off light, and colors, like the moon.

"We know that, you don't have to state the obvious," a second voice. If Yin hadn't been told, she wouldn't have known that it had come from a cat. There was nothing in the timber of his tone to suggest anything less than human. However... there was something about him that reminded Yin of a cat. It was almost like feeling colors, except strangely different.

"Feh, you contractors give me the creeps..." Huang seemed to spit this out under his breath, as if adding the last blow before the end of an argument. He made it plain how he felt about the others and herself. He barely seemed to acknowledge her beyond telling the others that her name was Yin. She was used to this, she was only a doll, and should be treated as such.

"What is our first mission?" This voice... Yin paused when she had first heard it. When he had called himself Hei... His voice had been flat, like most other contractors, but it had been different as well. Yin felt something behind the flat, black contractor's tone. Yes, this man's color felt like black... but it didn't feel like an absence of color, or light. It was strangely warm, and comforting. Yin had never had a fear of the dark because of her blindness. She found it familiar, and calming. The color black was comforting... Hei was comforting...

Yes, it started out with little things like that. The feel of his presence. It all started when she had first met Hei, and felt his comfort. She hadn't recognized it as the beginning of it all. Only as an oddity, an anomaly. As a doll she only felt a few limited feelings, things she needed to function. Everything beyond that was numb. To feel something beyond that, even something as simple as a sort of comfort... Well, Yin wasn't sure; her simple programming wasn't able to comprehend such complicated things. She only knew that she enjoyed the feeling of this man's black warmth.

Yes, that was the start of it all.


	2. The Tobacco Shop

Yin managed well in the tobacco shop. They had given her enough programming to run the till and to handle any of the rare customer's that visited. It was a simple existence for a doll, and simple was always best.

The only breaks in the monotony were if she was summoned to a mission. Huang would come for her, usually. Other times another member of the syndicate would drop by orders, or items to pass on to other members. Yin knew quite a few of the syndicate's members, more than people would expect. It didn't matter, though. Yin never acted upon the recognition. It wasn't in her simple programming.

Yin sat and stared blindly out upon the street. She didn't expect any one today. There had been no issues of orders for them yet. If Yin met with any one, it would be probably be a customer for the tobacco shop, members of the syndicate would not stop by without reason. It would be irrational to create ties to this place or bring attention to it. Contractors didn't do anything irrational.

Or so Yin thought.

"Hi," it was that voice again. The comforting one...

"Hei," she responded in return. She didn't look up, her gaze still down turned, there would be no point in looking with her pale sightless eyes.

Yin sensed, rather than saw, Hei looking down towards her. She wondered if he had orders for her from the syndicate, rather than Huang. That would be odd, but nothing more. It wouldn't be as strange as Hei coming by here for no reason. She waited for him to speak, to clarify the reason for his welcome presence.

Hei stood with his hands in the pockets of a simple pair of functional jeans. He wore a simple, white, button-down, shirt with short sleeves. The first few buttons were undone. He had been walking down this way when he had spotted the tobacco shop. Hei couldn't explain it, but somehow, Yin had looked lonely to him. So, he had walked over. He wasn't sure why; what did he expect? Conversation?

The contractor looked down towards the doll, his dark indigo eyes heavy lidded as he contemplated her there. He knew she wouldn't speak, not unless she was spoken to. The silence between them would stretch out until he broke it again. Hei paused, and then he decided to satiate a curiosity of his.

"Are you here alone?"

"Yes."

"And you manage on your own?"

"Yes."

The conversation stuttered to a halt. Yin's one word answers weren't conducive to the little chat they were having. Hei turned his head away from her and sighed. He should have known better... From the corner of his eyes, he glanced back down towards her, she hadn't moved at all. Her gaze was still ahead of her, blank as ever.

Hei turned back to her and said, "Take care," out of politeness, before continuing on wards. There hadn't been a need for it, just like there hadn't been a need for Hei to stop by at all, but he had done it just the same.

Yin sensed Hei's departure, her posture unaltered. She remained silent, no response given to his departure. However... Yin felt his absence. Hei's visit had been unexpected, and short. It had meaning, though. Yin wasn't sure as to what meaning. She merely sensed a meaning, like she sensed the colors of people.

Yin wondered for a while as to why Hei had spoken to her. There had been no objective behind it. No motive or reason. It was unrelated to a mission. There had been no work. No exchange of items. Merely his presence and a few words.

Yin had a realization then.

She realized that she hoped Hei would return. Not just for him to return, as he most certainly would for work reasons, but for him to return to speak to her. Just speak to her. As he had done just now. As no one else had done.

It was then that Yin felt something inside her shift.


	3. The Mission

"Where is he now, Yin?" Hei's voice crackled in her ear piece, his breath slightly ragged, his voice a few octaves lower. This is the voice of the Black Reaper. Despite it's dark tone, something inside Yin twitched at the sound of her name.

Yin's blind eyes stared down towards the floor, at a point just beyond the edge of her water basin. Her feet rested in cool water. Pleasant on her flesh. The ankle deep water served as a conduit, a conduit for Yin's other eyes.

Somewhere distant a small ghostly figure rested upon a puddle of water and gazed at the distant figure of a contractor. Contractors were the only ones who could see these specters. The specter faded away gently and Yin recorded its location mentally.

"South, 300 meters, running east," Yin's voice spoke dully, spilling forth the needed facts without preamble. There was nothing more to be said, so that is all Yin would say. That is how a doll is supposed to act. Yin was most obedient. There was nothing in her programming that allowed otherwise.

Yin sent forth her specter again, searching for water. She found it in the form of a bucket collecting rain runoff. From her specter's vantage point Yin was able to see without eyes. She watched the other contractor run in her direction. The contractor was towards the heavy side, not unlike Huang, but his hair curled, and his skin was like ebony. He wore simple clothing, pants, a hooded coat. He skidded to a stop when he saw her specter, and then cursed. He knew that her specter was with the Black Reaper that was hunting him now. The same Black Reaper who stood behind him now.

The contractor gasped, sensing something behind him, and whirled around. Hei stood there in his mask, the one he wore when he was the Black Reaper. If Yin had emotions, even she would have had to admit that he looked frightening. Hei's imposing figure stood, back lit by the moon. He began walking towards the contractor, slowly.

The man gritted his teeth and then let loose a scream, part fear, part rage. The scream of a hunted animal. He then pressed a hand to the wall next to him, and the bricks in the building vibrated and were suddenly launched through the air. Hei threw out a wire and pulled himself up towards the fire escape that hung above the contractor. Moments later Hei fell upon him, like a bird of prey, and killed him. The man let out a death cry as Hei filled his heart with high voltage electricity.

Yin's specter watched the murder blandly.

Hei sighed, lowering his head, allowing only a moment of weakness. Then he returned to being the black reaper, straightening his shoulders, and kneeling over the corpse. He riffled quickly through the contractors pockets. He found an envelope in the pocket of the contractor's hooded cloak. Hei opened the envelope to give the contents a glance, then he put the envelope away into his pocket.

He raised a hand to the side of his head, towards his ear, and then spoke, "Huang, mission accomplished."

"Good, hurry your ass back here," Huang responded gruffly before the radio line went dead.

"That was uncalled for," spoke Mao's voice from around the corner. He bounded over and hopped upon a trash can between Yin's Specter, and Hei.

Hei offered no response to Mao, he simply continued gazing on, his expression, and thoughts, hidden behind his mask. He held this for a moment before walking forward. He passed Mao and said, "It doesn't matter what Huang says."

"He still could watch the language, there's a lady present, even if she's a doll," Mao responded simply, one paw reaching up to scratch his ear.

Hei passed her specter next and paused, to send a look down towards her specter. To Yin, he was staring right at her. To Hei, it was a doll's specter. No. To Hei it was Yin's specter.

"Good job, Yin," Hei spoke, and then turned forward and walked towards the rendezvous point set by Huang and the syndicate.

Mao glanced towards Yin's specter, surprised at Hei's compliment, but then he too added, "Yes, Good job, Yin."

The specter held its position for a few moments longer, then slowly faded away watching Hei's receding back. For the first time in her memory, Yin felt the subtlest touches of emotion.


	4. The Fallen Star of a Contract

She saw police cars.

They whistled past on the street, lights flashing and sirens howling, like wild beasts. She could see them from the old leaf strewn, dilapidated fountain of murky water her specter rested in. She could see the cars, even though her body stood in a dark alleyway.

The sound of static cut into her ear, and Hei's voice came out tinny, and close, "Yin, where are the police?"

She showed no vestige of emotion at hearing Hei's voice as she spoke in return, "They're passing point A. Now. You have less than three minutes."

She heard Mao's voice just before Hei turned off his transmission, "Time to spare!" Yin didn't know what happened next. There was no water where Hei was, and so she couldn't send her specter to see. It didn't matter, though. That was not a part of her job in this mission. She had completed her part. She had followed the contractor as best as she could with her specter, and guided Hei. When Hei needed no further guidance, she watched the police pass through points F through A. They had passed through point A. Her job was complete. There were no more points to watch for.

Yin's unseeing eyes stared at the alley wall that she knew was in front of her. Slowly, she lifted her hand to her ear and removed the ear piece. As her programming instructed, Yin separated the ear piece, and the transmitter. The ear piece was placed in one trash can, buried a bit under the refuse. Touching garbage did not bother her. Neither did the smell of the rotting food that rested with in it. The transmitter she disassembled, the knowledge of how to remove all the pieces given to her for just this occasion. The pieces were then distributed among other trash cans.

She did not know why her program ordered her to make such a through disposal of the transmitter. Nor did she have enough emotion to care. She simply followed it, as she always did. She had once her Huang tell Hei that the syndicate took precautions that they deemed necessary, and that was all Hei needed to know. Hei and Huang would do something similar to their transmitters, and when the new mission was assigned, new transmitters would be deposited at Yin's tobacco shop.

Yin had settled into the routine of working with Hei, Huang, and Mao well. As a doll, routine was easiest. She also began to learn things about her team. Mao loved to rest on her lap and have her scratch his ears. Huang acted as though he treated her with indifference, but she would catch him watching her when he didn't know her specter was around. Being a normal human, he couldn't know she was watching him too. And Hei...

Yin stopped her line of thought. Working with Hei was... Hei was Hei. Yin concluded her thought simply. It was safer that way. She had done her job. It was time for her to return to the tobacco shop.

Yin returned to the monotony of routine that was her life. She didn't mind. She was a doll, how could she mind? It was simple life. Just enough to be functional. Just enough to keep up the pretense of a tobacco shop, should she ever get the rare customer. This was her life. Broken only by the occasional mission where Huang would show up wordlessly, for why would he bother speaking to a doll?, and take her the next drop off point, filling her on the bare necessities of knowledge she needed to perform her duty.

It would be almost boring. If Yin could feel boredom.

* * *

Yin rested on the river bank, her feet within the cool liquid. She was now tracking Hei and a woman. She'd been tracking the woman for a while, revealing her location to the others, as was directed of her. Hei had managed to find her, and now the two were running.

The smell of rain was still fresh in the air. If Yin had been able to, she would have liked that smell. Just as she enjoyed the feeling of the light of the moon. When there had been a moon. Fresh rain gave her a much wider field of vision. It was almost like she could see the whole world at once.

Yin half listened to Huang and Mao's conversation, her focus put more on locating Hei and the woman. She still heard them, however. Even though she was a doll, she still heard the things around her. Remembered them. People often spoke freely when in her presence. She learned a lot of things that way.

"The transmission's been cut." That was Mao. It had long since stopped being odd to see a cat talk.

"What's he doing? Think he tried to pull one over on us?" That gruff tone was Huang. It seethed with the color yellow.

"Not likely. I doubt he'd stand to gain anything. He's a contractor. It's his nature to do what's in his best interest."

"He's got a strange way going about it. He should kill the damn girl, and get out of there already." Huang shifted slightly. The wind brought the smell of his cigarette smoke towards her. "I mean, what the hell's he waitin' for?"

"It is odd. I'll give you that. Where is he now?"

Ah. That bit of the conversation was pointed towards her, it seemed. She could only respond with the truth. "I don't know."

"What?" Huang again. She felt, more than saw, Huang turn in her direction. So she clarified for him.

"He's in a place with no water..."

Even with her added field of vision, brought about by all the rain, Hei had still managed to hide in a place where she couldn't find him. It seemed odd... to be able to see so much, and yet not find Hei. But that was Hei, if he didn't want to be found. He wouldn't be. Hei wasn't careless like that.

It seemed the night would prove to be fruitless. Huang seemed frustrated, and had no problem expressing this very fact in the most colorful language. She tuned him and Mao out and continued searching. She would stop when ordered to. It didn't take long for Huang to do that. They were ordered to fall back.

"Let's go Yin," Huang said gruffly turning towards his car, parked not too far away. Yin didn't respond. She kept up her search for Hei. If only for a few more seconds. She was reluctant to break her contact with the water...

"Yin?" this time it was Mao, she felt him move to her side. It was then she removed her feet from the water, replaced her socks and shoes, and followed Huang to his car.

She could resume her search for Hei in the morning.

* * *

Yin followed along with Huang. Hei had been located, that was about all she understood. All the talk of "The stuff," and "So, she's a puppet," and so on wasn't important for her to hear. She simply followed and obey the occasional order to place a hand in a puddle of water, and relocate Hei.

It wasn't long before they were all in the midst of a battle field. Yin hung back, away from all the bodies, with Mao. Huang, however, boldly strode up behind Hei as he pulled back his wire. He had been fighting a contractor who disappeared in a flood of water. As Huang's gruff voice colored the air Yin knelt by the puddle of water left by the contractor.

"So, you fell for a decoy and walked right into an ambush. Meanwhile the item's already been acquired by another team. In other words, the Syndicate saw this coming. You get me? You should have just killed that damn puppet like I told you to."

Hei's voice returned softly, "Don't call her that. She wasn't a puppet."

What? Yin paused. Her breath. Why had her breath caught when Hei had said that? Yin wasn't allowed to ponder on it long, because Huang spoke up again.

"She sure as hell wasn't a person. An empty shell, nothing more. That's what dolls are, just like all you contractors are nothing but cold blooded killers."

"That's enough, Huang," Mao's voice this time, "Let's focus on finishing the job. Yin. Have you located him yet?"

Yin focused, and responded, "Yes. He's not far."

She knew exactly where he was...

It wouldn't take Hei long to reach him, and finish this job. Then things could go back to the way they were until another mission came up. Yin wouldn't have to think about Hei's words. And why they made it hard to breathe.


	5. A New Star Shines in the Dawn Sky

Yin didn't have any memories of color. Nor of people's faces. No memories that she had actually seen, anyway.

She couldn't explain how she was able to distinguish moon light from sunlight. Sunlight from firelight. Firelight from the light of a light bulb. It was all different. Like the flavors in food. Like the color of people.

For all of Yin's memory she sensed and felt things in this way. Light could be felt. People had colors. Even when Yin didn't know what colors were, back before she had her specter's eyes to see, she still identified people with those shades that her eyes could never recognize. That was the way things were.

Yin never questioned the way things were. She simply sat in her Tobacco shop, and waited. A good portion of her life was waiting. Mostly, she waited for orders. Where to go, and what to do next. Today her orders were simple, and so, she waited. She waited for Hei.

She knew that he would arrive, like clock-work, and knew what he would say before he even said it. His presence approached, blotting out the feel of the sunlight with his own blackness. That comforting color that Yin had known all her life. Yet, Hei transformed that absence of light into something of substance. Yin didn't know how to explain it. So she did not try.

"Pack of lights."

"One-forty, please."

Unseeingly she gave Hei the prop cigarettes along with the real item, a watch. What the watch was for and why she needed to deliver it to Hei in such a matter did not matter. These were her orders. The cigarettes weren't important, Yin knew without seeing that Hei would merely discard them as soon as he was able to discreetly.

Yin knew more than most people expected. She knew that the watch was an exact duplicate of another watch. She also knew that this watch had a small remote microphone. She knew that Hei would be listening to the bug in the watch. The blind doll knew all this, because many people assumed that was all she was. A doll. And dolls couldn't hear such important information… After all, they were only dolls.

Yin was only a doll…

* * *

Drip.

The water echoed brightly in Yin's ears, the subtle pulse of the water drifting over her hand. She spoke in a soft tone, Yin knew Mao would hear.

"They're moving," Yes, Yin could see Hei. Hei and the girl he was with. But… "But, they're not alone."

"Where, Yin?" Mao asked insistent, but not as harshly as Huang may have. He was always kinder than the Yellow Man.

Yin paused for a moment, focusing, before speaking up and relaying the coordinates of her specter, and thus Hei, to Mao. Mao would then pass this information on, and either Yin's job would be complete, or she would ask to locate something else. She waited, and followed Hei, until she would be ordered to do something else. Yin always watched Hei a moment longer than her other targets. Her 'gaze' would linger on him like it wouldn't on anyone else.

Yin wondered why it was that Hei captured her 'eyes' the way he did. Then she stopped… and wondered at the fact that she was even 'wondering' at all. She was a doll, to wonder was to be curious, and curiosity was an emotion…

Yin didn't have time to pursue this line of thought. Orders had been given. It was time for her to move. It was better this way. It was better not to think. Not to wonder. Not to question. She was a doll. If she started to feel these things… then what would she become?

What would she be?

+++-|-+++Author's Notes+++-|-+++

Hello everyone,

I never wrote author's notes before because it felt as if they were unneeded. But, now I feel like it's a good time to write a little note to say thank you to everyone who has put this story on their story alerts, or have even bothered to favorite. Considering this is my first and only story with multiple chapters, I'm grateful for the faith you have in me.

Knowing that people have an alert set up just in case on the off chance I might sit down and update the tale of Izanami, is quite touching, and inspiring. I don't think I would bother to continue writing new chapters, or at least I wouldn't update nearly as soon.

Izanami was something I wrote out of my own mind musing on how Yin might think, and feel. And it really mused on what it was like to have Izanami growing as its own entity and speaking to Yin _because_ of Hei. All in all, this was only going to be a place for me to write my own musings whenever I felt inspired.

However…

It feels like something a bit more, thanks to all your reviews, favorites, and story alerts. I think I might try and do more with this. Originally I was just going to watch the Darker Than Black series over again and write over the scenes that Yin would appear in, and maybe through in an extra scene or two such as "The Tobacco Shop".

I don't think I'll be doing that anymore. Yin shows so rarely in the early episodes that it really isn't worth going through the way I am. I was barely able to reach 600 words with Yin's scenes in "A New Star Shines in the Dawn Sky". I also feel as if I'm spinning my wheels and reiterating the same things I've stated before. The colors of people, Yin's orders, and so on.

I think I'm going to possibly skip episodes, or start mixing episodes into single chapters, or perhaps just do my own thing entirely. Truth be told, the bulk of this tale, if it is to indeed become a tale, will take place in and around the OVA. That's where the fun is.

At least fun for me. And hopefully fun for all of you.

Please root for me, and please review. I take all your words to heart, and I'd be willing to address issues in character portrayal and take advice on it.

~Cheers


	6. Red Giant over Eastern Europe

Hei was anxious.

Yin didn't need her own emotions to identify the nervous energy that filled the contractor today. Something was different about him. He didn't have that calm and reliable black presence that he normally did. Today his presence wavered and flickered. It jumped and crackled like a black fire. Hei was anxious about something. Hei was anxious about the mission.

Yin discretely tilted her head slightly as Hei walked past her. Something about this mission to obtain the ex-contractor "Havoc" had him wound up in a way Yin hadn't felt before. The doll could only guess as to why. When you came right down to it, Yin didn't know that much about Hei at all.

She hardly knew anything…

That didn't matter, though.

She would continue to just do her job, and doing her job, she'd be helping Hei. Yin didn't know why, but it was important that she help Hei. She couldn't explain it, there were a lot of things she couldn't explain, but she knew that she needed to help Hei.

Needed or wanted to?

The thought crept across her mind before Yin had even fully noticed it. Did she need to help Hei, or did she want to? The doll quietly put this thought to rest. She needed to. Yin couldn't _want_ anything. She was a doll.

"Right, let's go, Yin," Mao said from his spot on her lap. The contractor-cat stretched lazily before hopping to the floor.

Yin said nothing; she simply nodded her head and stood up to follow Mao and the grumbling Huang. Hei had already gone ahead. They exited rendezvous C, and got ready for the mission. Hei and Huang would be going into combat. Yin would wait in the car with a glass of water. Mao would be keeping an eye out for Hei, ready to call for Huang to grab Havoc when Hei was distracting the opposition.

Yin didn't have much to do; there wouldn't be that much water. Or so she thought...

* * *

"GO!" Hei's hoarse voice commanded as he entered the front seat of the car dripping wet.

"Shut up," Huang grumped back, more out of habit than out of any need for silence.

Huang finished tying Havoc up, then shoved her into the back seat where the woman fell against Yin weakly. Huang hopped into the front seat and set the car in motion. Mao was resting in Yin's lap, his eyes on Havoc. The female ex-contractor was so weak she didn't bother to pull away from her resting spot on Yin's shoulder.

Yin didn't bother moving Havoc either. She simply stared, unseeingly, towards the car's windshield. Havoc was thin. Thinner than even Yin. She was unhealthily thin. Yin could feel the contractors bones press against her arm and side whenever the car made too sharp a turn, and Havoc was pushed into her.

Red.

Yin decided this after a moment's thought. But a dull glow of red. A sickly representation of the color. The washed out remains of a once bright and powerful crimson.

That was her color.

Yin pulled out of her thoughts just as the car began to slow down into rendezvous F. Huang had been quick, and discrete, taking a few back roads, and U-turns in case he needed to shake off pursuers. Of course, the real pursuers he needed to worry about, Huang couldn't see.

Specters wouldn't be easy to avoid.

"Is the coast clear?" Huang asked gruffly, looking around for ghosts he couldn't see.

Hei's eyes were surer as he scanned the surrounding area, "Yes."

"Let's go then," Huang said as he slipped out the front seat and stepped around to the back to open Havoc's door. "Get up."

Yin waited for Havoc to stand before leaving the car. The woman seemed to shudder as she took a strengthening breath. Yin then felt the weight of the car shift as the woman stood. With the weight of Havoc off from her side, Yin opened her own door and stepped out.

Yin followed Hei and Huang down the alley way towards the rows of hotels. Mao padded along at Yin's side, considerate enough to walk with her, even when she was just a doll. Yin simply kept staring forward and followed Hei.

She didn't need to see where she was going. Yin had always had good instincts. Being blind for as long as she could remember, Yin had always been able to walk forward without bumping into people or tripping into things. Sometimes she would misjudge how close or far away something was, but it was a rare enough occurrence that when she finally did miss something, it surprised those around her. It was easy to forget that she was blind.

Now was one of those occasions. Neither Hei, nor Huang felt the need to give her a guiding hand, even as she walked unseeingly in the alley. However, Yin was able to step around a trash can or light pole before walking into it. It was just an instinct. Yin had always been able to sense her surroundings.

"Take her to the back room with Yin," Huang grunted. "I'm going to make a phone call."

Mao padded into the hotel and hopped onto the couch, "Hei, guard Havoc. Keep an eye on her."

Yin stepped into the hotel as Huang moved to shut the door. She felt him pause, Yin assumed he was looking up and down the alleyway, then she heard the click of the door shutting.

Yin paused, sensing where th-

"This way, Yin," Hei's voice spoke from her right.

Yin blinked, before slowly nodding and following Hei's and Havoc's presence.

Yin passed by the old woman near the window. If Yin hadn't been able to sense people's colors, (the woman was lavender) than she would have never noticed her. The woman never spoke, nor made a sound. She was probably used to this kind of thing, either that, or paid well enough to pretend to be used to it.

Yin stepped into the back room, and the door was shut behind her. Yin moved and sat down on the bed she sensed only a few steps away. Havoc was shoved to one side, Yin could feel her fall towards the floor, and heard her soft grunt of pain.

Yin kept her gaze forward. She didn't need to turn her head to feel Hei's frantic hunt through the room. Yin knew that he was searching for planted bugs, or video cameras. Hei was prudent that way. He finished his search within a few minutes, and then stood by the door.

His anxious energy was still there.

Yin knew, without a doubt, that Hei's eyes were on Havoc. She simply knew.

"Yin," Hei's voice spoke softly. Yin lifted her head slightly in acknowledgement, "We're leaving. Don't stop us."

"…" Yin lowered her head in response. Hei had given her an order. She'd follow it.

It wasn't hard for Hei to snatch Havoc and sneak out with her. He was gone in minutes. Yin was left sitting alone in the room. What else was there for her to do?

Yin did what she did best. She waited.

As far as waits went, this one wasn't so bad. She only had to wait a few minutes before Huang opened the door. There was a beat of silence before Huang decided to speak.

"Great. What the hell's going on? Where's Havoc?"

"Hei's not here either. I told him to guard her," Yin sensed Mao turning his head to look at her, "Yin, where are they?"

Yin told them the only thing she could tell them, "… They went away."

"Yeah, we see can that! Where'd they go?" Huang asked, his tone of voice impatient.

So, Yin could only tell them the truth, "I don't know."

* * *

She found him.

Yin stood in a corner, her bare feet resting in the puddle of water created from a broken flower vase. Of course the first thing Mao and Huang had her do was locate Hei.

"I see him." Yin could see Hei. He had removed his coat. She could also see Havoc. This was the first time Yin could "see" what Havoc looked like. The woman was every bit as slight as Yin had felt her to be. Her collar bones sticking out like handle bars. Her arms and legs thin with stringy muscles. Yin had never been able to sense the tired look in the female contractor's eyes. Nor how green those tired eyes were…

"Where is he?" Mao's voice was intent. This was important.

"Ichigaya, Yanagi-cho. They're on the move now."

"At least the bastard hasn't gone far," Huang mumbled. Yin heard the sound of paper rustling. Probably Huang pressing the map he was examining flat.

"Yin, which way are they headed?" Mao asked her.

"…Due East," she responded listlessly after a moment's pause.

She felt, more than heard, the soft gasps from the two of them…

* * *

"Found him," Yin's voice showing a touch more energy than she usually allowed. She rested her fingers lightly in the still water. It wasn't the cleanest; certainly not clean enough to drink, but it was more than enough to suit Yin's needs.

"Location?" Mao asked. He was all business. Things were serious.

"Sotobori-dori street. At the fence."

"And is Havoc still with him?" Huang's voice rumbled.

"She is," Wait... Yin straightened for a moment. "Hold on."

She had to be sure…

* * *

Yin led Huang and Mao as close to Hei as she could. Of course, after a certain distance the sounds of combat guided them the rest of the way. They wouldn't need her after that. The thunder head in the sky alone was a huge beacon to Hei's location.

Yin waited behind, by Huang's car, her gaze turned unseeingly towards the sounds she heard. She wondered if Hei was alright. If Havoc was alright. But then she didn't have time to wonder anything. The thundering sound of the explosion, and the wash of heat that flew over her was enough to warn her that Huang had needed to intervene.

She opened the car door, and slipped inside. It was only moments before the others were piling into the car, and the car sped away.

For a while the only sounds were the sounds of Huang's driving. It seemed no one had anything to say to anyone else.

Yin could feel Havoc's absence.

"Huang…" it seemed Hei wanted to break the unsteady silence.

"Save it," the man snapped back cutting Hei off before he could even get in a sentence, "We'll talk later. Just don't talk to me right now."

Yin could feel how angry the man was, and she assumed Hei could as well. He seemed to with draw, if only for now.

Huang drove for ten minutes. All ten of which were spent in a tense silence. When he finally did pull over and exited the car, Yin didn't recognize the location as one of the rendezvous points. She exited the car out of habit. No on ordered her to stay behind, so Yin followed Hei and the others into the building, and to the roof.

It seemed this was where Huang wanted to talk.

But it was Mao who started the discussion, "You disobeyed direct orders. Why?"

"The syndicate believes we were flushed out of hiding as a team. If they learned we covered for you, we'll all pay. And I don't plan to die for you," Huang practically spat the words out of his mouth, but his anger barely held in check.

"If you're so worried, then maybe you should have killed me when you had the chance," Hei's voice was blank, factual. Like a contractor.

"DON'T TEMPT ME, FREAK," Huang's anger boiled over in that moment, and Yin sensed him rushing forward. She heard the rustling sound of Huang grabbing Hei's clothes, "YOU DON'T KNOW HOW CLOSE I WAS!"

"Huang!" Mao cried out in an attempt to keep the peace.

"YOU CONTRACTORS ARE JUST WEAPONS, SO JUST DO YOUR JOB, OR GET THROWN IN THE FIRE!" Huang snarled in his rage, and Yin could hear him push Hei away. She had seen Huang upset before, but this is a new level for the man.

But in that instant it seemed Huang's anger dissipated after his needed outburst. Hei never retaliated, and the two of them stepped back. Huang over by Mao. Hei's back turned to the rest of them. Yin didn't know how she knew this. But she could sense it. There was a separation between everyone. Yin felt that… if something didn't change, Hei would go very far away from the rest of them. Very far away from her. Yin didn't want Hei's back turned away like that. She didn't need to see it to feel the loneliness…

Her body moved without conscious thought. Yin stepped towards Hei and reached out. Without seeing Yin took his gloved hand into her own. Anchoring him. Turning him to face Huang and Mao. Keeping him here, with them. Keeping him here with her.

She sensed Hei's shock at the action the moment her hand clasped his. When he jerked his hand away violently, she let go. She simply kept her gaze forward. Yin knew Hei's eyes were on her, she didn't need to look at him. She just stood there as Hei turned his back to her again, and he walked away.

Yin didn't know why. But she hurt as she felt Hei leave. A pain deep in her chest that she couldn't explain...


	7. The Scent Gardenias Lingers

Searching.

Searching.

Yin's eyes drifted along the water ways of the city. Her orders were to find the man responsible for all the stolen products from a certain company. A body hijacker, apparently. She had overheard Mao explain the details to Huang. A man who could switch bodies was staging the multiple suicides.

"Smart," Huang complimented before shuffling his newspaper. The man always brought along something to occupy himself so that if the casual observer wandered by, it wouldn't immediately look like he was communicating with the rest of them. Another precaution the syndicate instilled in him.

As for herself, Yin's blank gaze stared down at her lap. While her true eyes saw nothing but the familiar darkness, her other eyes flew through the city. She scanned as quickly as she dared.

She saw…

Cars driving past her puddle of water.

Various cooks in a restaurant boiling a pot of water.

Two women walking past a drain spout.

A man running along the water way.

Wait…

"Found him…" Yin brought herself back to her body long enough to speak, but her real focus was upon the target. Her specter followed him until he ran under the bridge. He turned away from the water, and ran to a place where her eyes couldn't follow. She relayed the coordinates tonelessly to Mao and Huang. Hei wasn't with them. He was out in combat.

"Good job, Yin," Mao complimented her. He was usually the one most kind to her. "I'll go meet up with Hei and lead him."

"Just get the job done," Huang grunted, and shuffled his papers.

Yin continued watching…

* * *

"It's a list of employees going back ten years," Hei's voice spoke flatly. Almost as flat as Yin's own voice. "It'll be helpful in finding the contractor we're looking for."

Everyone had rendezvoused back at the park. Yet again they all sat and spoke together, but no one looked at anyone else. A team of strangers. It didn't matter that Yin was blind. Had she had sight in her true eyes, she still wouldn't be allowed to look at the others.

"If we can smoke out the industrial spies that have infiltrated Fiore's over the years, we should be able to find him and eliminate him," Huang's voice was intent. Yin imagined his serious expression. She imagined faces a lot, even though she was blind. She didn't really need to. Until she had gained her new eyes, Yin had never really seen a face. Thus, imagining the expressions on other people's faces was nothing more than an amusing past time for her.

"Yin, have you had any luck locating Mao?" Hei's tone was as black as his aura. She imagined his dull half lidded expression. Hei's contractor face wasn't quite as emotionless as that of a doll, Yin had seen him through her specter. Hei's expression always carried a vague anger within its depths. The only time Yin had ever seen that anger abolished was when Hei was acting as "Lee".

"Nothing yet…" Yin responded simply, "Right now he could be anywhere."

Mao had disappeared in the middle of a mission. He had cut off radio contact, and so no one had been able to reach him. Yin had been truthful, as if she could ever lie, when she had said Mao could be anywhere. Being a cat, he was much more difficult to locate than a person.

"Damn, perfect time for him to go AWOL on us," Huang grunted in frustration.

Yin paused, if only for a moment, in her search. She didn't believe that Mao had purposefully disappeared. It didn't seem like him. Of course, Yin didn't speak her thoughts. She was a doll, after all.

"We'll continue with the mission, Mao'll turn up eventually," Hei was nothing if not a practical contractor. He stood up, considering this conversation over.

* * *

If Yin hadn't known better… she would have thought that she had felt relief…

In lieu of searching for Mao, Yin had been ordered to search for the contractor from earlier. It was an order, so of course Yin had to change targets for her search. She did so without comment. The contractor turned out to be much easier to locate than Mao. Yin directed Hei towards the river, and the contractor.

Yin soon discovered, however, that Mao was in an animal carrier, carried by an unknown man. How he had come to be in such a position, Yin had no idea. She kept an eye on the proceedings, trying to estimate how long it would take Hei to arrive on the scene.

Silently, unable to affect the events before her in anyway, Yin bore witness. She watched as the contractor confronted the stranger. She watched as Mao's carrier fell towards the river, and she felt her breath catch. Yin watched, and waited. She tried to estimate how long it would take Hei to arrive. She didn't have long to wait.

Hei's figure appeared, and entered the scene. Hei battled the other contractor, now inhabiting the body of the stranger. Using his wires Hei was able immobilize the enemy, however the contractor returned to his original body. Hei released the stranger, and the man's body fell backwards into the carrier. Yin felt Hei's name upon her lips, calling out to him. Hei moved to follow the contractor, but halted. For an instant, Yin thought Hei had heard her voice…

But in truth it had been Mao's own distress that had called the man's attention. It was Mao's voice that had reached Hei, not hers.

Either way, Mao had been saved. It didn't matter whose voice reached Hei.

* * *

"This from Huang?" Sightlessly, Yin passed over the sheet of paper to Hei. Judging from it's glossy feel, Yin supposed it was a photograph. Of what, she had no idea.

She and Hei were seated upon the opposite ends of a slide. It was small, built for bodies even more slight than Yin's own. She didn't understand why it was required to sit in such a place. Two people sitting back to back upon a children's slide couldn't possibly be an everyday occurrence. But what did Yin know? She was a doll, and all she had to do was follow her instructions. So, she rested with her legs resting along the incline of the slide.

"Mm-hm."

"This is the guy I encountered," Hei murmured, "What do you think Mao?"

There was a moment of silence where Mao's response should have been. Hei waited a beat before prompting the other contractor, "Mao, listen."

"What?" Mao asked distractedly. He then apologized, "Sorry. I was busy downloading a data packet from the network."

"What are you talking about?" For once the barest inflection of emotion colored Hei's voice. Confusion stained his words.

"You don't know about that," Mao's response more of a statement than a question. "I interface with a server that helps make up for what a cat's brain lacks. If I don't do this semi-regularly the feline brain will take over. Like earlier when I got lost in the trash house."

Finished with his explanation Mao added, "That's our man." Yin figured he must have looked at the photograph that she had just delivered. Having confirmation from Mao, Yin delivered the information that she had memorized for them.

"Norio Ukiyami. He can control gravity…" The facts slid from her lips easily. Her memory had always been sharp.

"Gravity?" Hei's voice questioned her. Yin sensed, more than anything, Hei's gaze shift towards her. She felt it acutely on the back of her neck. "I thought he could swap bodies."

"I dunno," Yin responded flatly. She couldn't provide information she lacked. So, instead Yin filled in with the knowledge she did have, "Ukiyami used to operate out of Northern India. His partner was Amitabh Kapoor. A contractor with possession abilities."

Her information delivered, Yin slid away from Hei. It was an odd sensation, sightlessly slipping past on the slick metal of the slide. For an instant, it was disorienting, but then her feet touched the earth, and her world oriented it's self around the familiar action. Yin stood, smoothed her dress, and proceeded to walk away. Her job, delivering information, was complete. She had no reason to linger.

"I get it…" Mao's voice slowly digesting the information.

"Kapoor…" Hei murmured.

"I believe Kapoor took over Ukiyama's body. But while swapped Kapoor's original body suffered some kind of accident thus trapping Kapoor in Ukiyama forever… "

Mao's voice faded further and further as Yin drifted away. The last thing she heard was, "It's a story I'm quite familiar with, as you can imagine."


	8. The Emotion

She didn't know when it started.

Yin just soon began to find herself watching the others. Mao. Huang. …Hei.

The doll found herself lingering over puddles in her path, her finger tips all she needs to seek out the others. Yin found herself using glasses of water as an excuse to sneak glimpses of Huang drinking in some far off bar. The water in her sink giving her a window to look upon Mao as he sunbathed. The very rain it's self, granting Yin a nearly limitless view of the city, allowed her to watch Hei pretend to be Lee.

It was this that Yin found herself doing the most. Watching Hei act. It was only in these moments that she was able to see the contractor smile. See him as something beyond the sheer, raw, power of the killer he was.

Or he pretended to be.

Just as Yin could feel colors from people. Just as Yin could fill the silver moonlight slide over her skin. Yin felt that Hei wasn't truly the heartless killer that he presented. In truth, there were moments where Hei seemed more true to himself playing Lee Shenshun, than he ever was being the Black Reaper...

Yin moved covertly. When she spied on the others, she did so discretely. Even when she was watching Huang, who couldn't even see her specter in the first place. Yin just instinctively knew that she should not reveal her independent vigilance to the others.

It wasn't proper for a doll to take initiative like that.

As a doll, Yin couldn't do anything that wasn't programmed or ordered of her. Nothing. That's the way it was supposed to be. Yin didn't move unless she was preordained to do so. She didn't speak unless she was prompted. This was what it meant to be a doll.

And yet… here she was, spying of her own free will.

Free will.

Yin's very thoughts were contradictory to her supposed nature. If she was supposed to be the automaton that dolls were expected to be, than why was it she was able to ponder so many things? Her very ability to wonder about her own free will should have been beyond her…

Truthfully. When she became truly honest with herself, Yin knew she hadn't always been like this. In the past she had fulfilled the role of a doll perfectly. Her life had been a straight line, never deviating from the ideal.

So… What had changed?

It could have been a number of things. But the most obvious, and probably the most truthful, would have to be Hei.

Being around Hei started to shift something within Yin. It had been a very gradual process. So slowly had it affected her, that Yin wasn't fully aware of it until the seeds of change had already been rooted within her. Just as Yin slowly found herslef watching Hei and the others.

It had been an accident. At least at first. Yin had washed her hands, and out of habit she sent her specter out. Her other self flew to the thing she had always watched the most. The thing she was most attuned to. Almost of it's own free will, Yin's specter found Hei.

That had been the start of it.

Once one did something for the first time… it was easier to do it again.

Soon Yin found excuses to look in on everyone. At least once a day she would seek out each member of the team. Even though it was a risky habit, Yin carefully kept her surveillance on the others. If only to know they were there. They were safe somewhere.

Safe.

It hadn't been long before Yin began to stretch her luck.

It hadn't been long before she began to watch out for Hei in his missions.

Originally Yin only had to do her job. She was ordered to find a person, and she would find them. If orders were that she follow them, then she would keep up her surveillance as best as she could. Without orders, Yin often let go of her visions, at least until her next order. She had never before continued searching without consent.

But once again… Once one did something for the first time… it was easier to do it again.

Yin would follow Hei, keeping a watchful eye upon him as he slipped through the shadows. Donning his mask and becoming the Black Reaper. She would look for him when things seemed most dangerous. Even if she couldn't do anything but watch, Yin still wanted to see. She couldn't take her "eyes" off of him.

It was when Hei went into the gate that Yin had to acknowledge it.

The emotion.

It was impossible. Utterly and completely impossible. By the very definition of her existence, Yin shouldn't feel anything. And yet… there it was. A most identifiable emotion.

Anxiety.

It buzzed in her chest. A worry. Instinctually Yin knew the gate had strange effects upon people. Contractors and dolls especially. Who knew what could happen to Hei while in such close proximity to the gate.

It had started as a whisper. A whisper in her chest. In her... heart.

"What if?"

The whisper would say.

"What if?"

And the whisper conjured the emotion. The impossible emotion.

Anxiety.

The whisper grew, the longer Hei stayed within the gate. It grew in voice. It grew in power. It grew until it became a fearful cry against the sudden large explosion that rocked the confines of Hell's Gate. Yin knew. She knew that Hei was at the center of that explosion. And she didn't hesitate; she sent her specter out to check on him. To make sure that he was alive. Just to see him.

And there he was, sitting listlessly in the edge of a crater. His dark gaze shifting towards 'her'. And he acknowledged her by the whisper of her name, "Yin."

Yin contented herself with the sight of him. He was alive. He was in one piece.

Hei…

And so Yin slipped away. She returned to her life at the tobacco shop. The whisper silenced. Almost as if it had never been. In time Yin couldn't even be sure that it had existed at all. That whisper in her heart of "What if?".

No. There was no whisper as she returned to her vague work at the tobacco shop. Her life returned to its humdrum of waiting. Waiting for orders. Waiting for customers.

Her ears, sharpened by the lack of sight, picking up upon the sound of footsteps.

The footsteps stopped in front of her, and Yin waited for the customer's request. But instead of an order for a certain product, Yin was greeted with the crinkling sound of plastic. The sound of plastic, and Hei's voice.

"Thank you, Yin"

Her heart froze. Becoming as still as her body. She showed no sign of acknowledgement. Her gaze didn't flicker. She was as still as a statue. As still as a doll. It was a long time before she moved. Long after Hei's footsteps faded off into the distance.

Yin's hand drifted, unseeingly towards where the unknown gift from Hei laid. Fingertips searching the wooden tabletop, tracing the grain before discovering the slick feel of plastic. She traced the shape of it, and then popped the candy into her mouth.

It was the sweetest thing she had ever tasted.


	9. Heart Unswaying on the Water's Surface 1

Soft. Like the moon glow. The sound was silken, it poured out from her fingers into the sky. She could feel the caress of the notes like she could feel the caress of the moon light. Soft, and sweet. She could stay like this forever. Enwrapped in the feeling of silver, the sound of the music, she had no worries, no fears. There was nothing wro-

"No, that's wrong Kirsi."

The voice cut across the sound, like a knife. It interrupted the flow of the music. Anger flared in her belly like a serpent. "Here, play it like this," Mr. Kastenin spoke softly.

Her sightless eyes stared forward at nothing even as Mr. Kastinen leaned over, she could feel his warmth on her back. His arm reached out on her right, and she heard a piano note clear and precious. "Hold down the sustain."

Her anger boiled over, and she snapped, "I AM!"

She had been playing just fine, enjoying the feel of the music and the light. At least until Mr. Kastenin had to go and stick his big nose into it. But he was always so patient and kind, "Don't yell at me. Use your feelings on the keys."

She didn't understand what he wanted from her, "My feelings?"

How did she put her feelings into music? She knew that she could absorb the feeling of light and sound. But they were feelings, like the feeling of water on her skin. Not emotion. Like her sadness or loneliness. Music didn't have emotions...

"Feel the piece. I want you to go beyond simply knowing the notes."

Frustration bubbled in her. This didn't tell her how to put her feelings into the sound at all! How did he expect her to know how? "What would that do? The music won't sound different if I'm angry! Notes don't have feel-!"

Flesh rested upon her lip, silencing her. Mr. Kastenin's finger tip rested across her bottom lip. Being blind, her other senses were more alert. A simple touch would silence her far easier than any amount of words. "You may be right, Kirsi," Mr. Kastenin allowed, "but if you push aside the notes and the form then the true music in your soul will flow to the keys. Think of... when you're sad and you force yourself to smile. The goodness in your heart comes out, and you feel better."

Kirsi frowned; attempting to understand what it was he was trying to teach her. He always seemed to speak in riddles that made no sense. If she was sad, why smile? If she had goodness in her heart, wouldn't she just be happy? And anyway, what does any of this have to do with the Piano? "I don't get it Mr. Kastenin," she griped, knowing her features formed into a pout, "At all."

She felt Mr. Kastenin's hand slide away from her back as he stood up. She knew without seeing that he was addressing her mother, "I think I've gotten too complex for her."

"Hm," her mother spoke with a smile in her voice, "She's still young. Just give her some time."

Kirsi's annoyance flashed and boiled over. She whipped her head in her mother's general direction, her faze staring vacantly elsewhere, "Please stop treating me like a kid, mother!"

Kirsi could sense her mother flinching in response to her words. Guilt colored her almost immediately after she said the words. She turned her sightless gaze back to the piano... Kirsi sighed to herself softly, and focused instead, on other things to cover her guilt.

Like the feel of the light that fell upon her skin. The bright silver of moonlight. Soft like silk as it fell in through the window. She didn't need to see to know it was beautiful. Her feelings alone were enough to paint a picture more beautiful than any true sight...

"Kirsi, what's wrong?" her piano instructor asked, sensing the change in her demeanor.

"Mr. Kastenin?" She asked in a small voice, "Is it a full moon?"

She felt, more than heard, Mr. Kastenin turn. She assumed to look out the window, "It might be," and then, with a slight amount of surprise he added, "You're right."

Pleasure bubbled in her chest. A sort of pride, she held her hands out, palm up, as if she could catch the moonlight she bathed in, in her palms, "I knew it. I can always tell. I can feel it. It's beautiful," The peace of the moment stretched like a sustained note in a beautiful melody, "I can tell without seeing it. It's silver..."

* * *

The past was the past. It is as lost as a forgotten dream. Details and specifics faded into the dull blur of her existence. But the past still haunted. The past still reached out to her mind with it's reaching fingers...

The stone was cold against her back. Cold and gritty. Yin didn't need her surveillance specter to tell her that the alleyway she stood in was dark. The faint light that bled in felt green. Sickly green. The air was cool and damp. Yin stood in a puddle, her black shoes resting in hardly an inch of water. She heard the faint 'plip' of a drop of water, and with it came a torrent of memories, all as strong as a sudden downpour.

The plane crashed. It crashed and her daddy-

So many people died. So many people who wouldn't come home-

Mommy? Mommy why are you crying? Is it because of daddy?

And then they were gone. Lost like shadows. Yin didn't understand the thoughts, she didn't try to pursue them. Let the past stay the past. A doll didn't need memories. She didn't need those memories. What she needed to do, was her job. Her mission. Trying to find the other contractor team.

Yin sent her other self, her eyes, out through the city. She flew through the streets and water ways, searching... searching. She moved like water, she flew like moonlight. Images flashed past her, registering them only passingly. Like an advanced reader skimming a book. She only stayed long enough to glimpse, and then moved on. Always looking. Always searching for-

Them.

Yin hid out in the waters, watching the scruffy man and large woman. She found them. The other contractors. Now she needed to report bac-

Empty. Empty. She was hollow. Lost. Yearning. She needed to be complete again.

She had no concept of time. No sense of awareness. She only knew she needed it. She needed to find it. She needed... People. The light. The sound of cars. The smell of exhaust fumes. It all barely registered. It was all nothing. She was nothing.

Suddenly the world cleared, her senses began to make sense as someone bumped into her. She stared sightlessly, her mind not registering the words spoken to her. She could only wonder to herself, "What is... this place?"

She had no idea where she was. Or what was going on. Only that her specter was gone, and that she felt hollow. Empty. And she needed to fill this ache. Sightlessly she stepped toward the pull. The pull on her soul, trusting in her instincts to guide her through the unknown streets. She trusted in herself to stop for cars, and to not walk into trees and buildings. Her body knew the way even better than herself. Yin just needed to find that other part of herself, she needed-

That sound.

She paused, the pull that called to her getting confused. She could now feel herself being pulled in two directions. Both sirens calling her name. Yearning for her to reach them. Slowly Yin turned towards the other pull. The pull of the sound... the melody. A melody that reminded her of moonlight...

She stood there, unseeing, hand reaching blindly. Reaching for a memory. Reaching towards the past. The feeling of cool ivory dancing beneath her fingers. Singing the notes out into the air. A way to understand this world she couldn't see. To add beauty in what she could hear, to make up for the beauty she couldn't see.

Clapping, she heard clapping. Kirsi turned and smiled in the direction of the sound. Pride bubbling in her chest. She was so happy. The moment made even more perfect by Mr. Kastenin, "That was perfect, Kirsi." It was rare for Mr. Kastenin to give such high praise. Her cheeks became painted with the warmth of a blush.

"Now for the next piece," she heard Mr. Kastenin say, but his voice cut out. She heard the sound of something small and plastic falling, his little light? Yes, his pen-light. The little thing that she felt shining some times. Bright as the stars. He must have dropped it... The sound of shuffling soon followed.

"Is something wrong?" that was her mother speaking.

"No, I just can't find my pen-light," he responded simply.

"Oh, I'll turn on the lights."

"No!" Kirsi's voice echoed in the air before she even knew she had spoken. It was by sheer impulse that she shouted. But now that she said it, she knew that it was true. She didn't want her mother to turn on the light. It would drown out the silver. The feeling of silk on her skin. It would be driven back by the harsh glare of the lamp.

"No... I like it like this..." She lifted her head up to the sky, towards the moon she couldn't see, but she could feel, "The light of the moon..."

"Kirsi," her mother said gently...

She closed her eyes, even though there was no difference between them being opened or closed... Kirsi bowed her head gently, waiting for her mother's words, but Mr. Kastenin spoke up before her mother could continue.

"It's no problem," Mr. Kastenin said as she heard him move off to the side. His clothes rustling softly, "I see it right over there."

Their hands touched.

It was like a sharp piano note in the air. Kirsi's eyes opening, staring ahead, seeing nothing... and yet knowing so much...

Kirsi didn't need to see to know. She didn't need her eyes to work, to see the way they looked at each other. She knew. She could feel it, just as she could feel the light of the moon on her skin. The light of the moon was silky. The feeling between her mother and Mr. Kastenin... that was a bad feeling. It put knots in her stomach. She didn't like it. She didn't like it at all... Daddy...

"Did you find it? Your lost Pen-light?" she asked quietly... anything to replace the note of lingering awkwardness in the air. The feeling pierced the air, and lingered, like a sustained piano note.

"Yes."

"... good..." she whispered. Even though she felt anything but good... She felt... She felt...

Kirsi lifted her hands and-

-the woman at the piano attacked the keys passionately. The sound of the piano's cries filled the air, and she was Yin. Blind Yin, her hand reaching out to a piano she remembered... and yet didn't... Her hand reaching to the past, and yet nothing at all at the same time...

What was happening? What-

* * *

"Uhm, hey! Excuse me?"

How did it end up like this?

"Drink as much as you like. This place always give free refills, even on fruit smoothies!" the first girl said. Bright. Cheerful. Shining. She was the color of strawberries... no, she was brighter than that. She was the color pink. Definitely... Yin could feel it.

"You seem really gloomy. Are you in character?" The other girl was speaking now. Blunter. Sharper than the first one. And yet, not unkind, not different from the pink girl... She felt... orange?

Normally Yin didn't associate with people outside of Huang, Mao, and... Hei. So, how did she end up here? In a strange restaurant with these strange girls. Ever since that... Emptiness... hollowness... She was lost and didn't know how to proceed. She didn't know what to do... so she let them take her away, to this strange place. These strange people... But they weren't unkind...

"You don't have to be so sad that we found you, we're SUPER cool to hang out with!" the first girl said cheerily. Then, suddenly, Yin felt two hands come forth. Two fingers touched her cheeks, and she felt them lift up in a strange way she didn't understand. What was she doing? "Here. Smile."

"What do you think?" the pink girl asked. Yin had no idea what she was doing...

"I think she's a cutie," the second girl responded.

They were so strange. Yin didn't understand. She tilted her head, there was nothing like this in her doll's programming, she needed clarification, "She's a cutie?"

"Yeah good," the first girl said. The hands left her face, and Yin's cheeks fell down to their usual position. That was better... "A smile will chase away the gloomies. Your appearance is very important, it tells people what you like and who you are. That's as true in real life as it is in cosplay."

This was another thing that Yin didn't understand. She needed clarification again, "What's cosplay?"

Before she could get answers to her questions, a phone's shrill ring split the air. "Sorry, gotta get this," the pink girl said.

"Would you get me a coffee?"

"I'm not a waitress! Get your own coffee!"

"I'm sorry I asked..."

"I'll be right back, ok?" It was the first girl. She was talking to Yin now... Yin sat silent throughout their exchange, as she did with all exchanges that had nothing to do with her. She didn't respond. The doll was too busy mulling over something else.

Her cheeks. Why wouldn't they move like that? The girl had pushed them up, and yet... Yin couldn't seem to be able to repeat the action. A smile. A smile was important. But Yin couldn't do it. At least, not with out a little help. She lifted her hands and pushed her cheeks up with her forefingers. Perhaps with practice-

She felt it.

There.

It was calling her. The emptiness inside of her tugged painfully. She needed to go. She needed to be where that other side of her was. She needed it. Yin couldn't stay here, she now knew where she needed to go. To where it was. She stood, even though she was blind, Yin was able to pick her way through the restaurant to the outside. Towards the piece of her that called for her. She didn't need to see. It would guide her. She had no fear.

Earlier where she was lost, she now knew where she needed to be. Where she bumped into things she could not see, she could now move confidently. Yin followed the siren's song that guided her, down this street, around this corner. She knew when to stop, when to move. It was all so clear now...

There... There it was. She needed to be with it. To reclaim herself. Her spe-

"I can see you're draw to the specter I stole from you," an unfamiliar voice. It was dirty. Grimy. Yin tilted her head vaguely in his direction, "You're just what we need..."

This wasn't good...

"I have the ability to connect with dolls, to uncover their repressed thoughts," he continued confidently. This man... "Let's try..."

This man was dangerous, she needed to get away. But... her other self... No, this man was an enemy. Her programming, the only thing she had left to guide her, told her that she needed to escape from enemies. So she made her decision, and ran. She needed to get away, but he was too quick, and grabbed her fiercely, "Don't bother running!"

Suddenly she was freed, and Yin was able to keep running, a familiar voice cried out to her, "Yin! Go now!"

Mao... It was Mao. Something familiar. A guide. Orders... She needed to get away, but when the man grabbed her, he had wrenched her arm. Yin stepped forward, holding her arm pained, wanting to follow her orders... But she was injured, and was forced to lean against the piece of wood...

"Come back here!" The man snarled from behind her, but his voice was cut off by a choked sound... "Wh-WHO ARE YOU?"

She needed to get away, Yin stumbled forward a few more steps... Suddenly a voice began to rise, low, but quickly rising in pitch. She gripped the wood, using it to stabilize herself as everything began to shudder. To vibrate. Her ears... it hurt. Being unable to see wasn't a hindrance, but the sound piercing her ears... the ground shaking under her feet. She couldn't move... Yin couldn't do anything...

What was happening? Metal. Metal was snapping and crunching. The ground was shaking. Something smashed into the ground behind her, she flinched away, unable to know where to go. How could she escape? She was trapped... Help...

Something hard smacked into her, threw her to the ground. But it wasn't the devastating crush of falling debris. As painful as it was with her head cracking against the ground, it could have been far worse...

Hei... Hei protected her with his body. She could feel his darkness. The comforting black that personified him, so like the world she resided in. She opened her eyes, turning towards him... He was above her, and speaking briskly, "Run as far away as you can."

And then he was gone, moving swiftly. Hei... Yin needed to obey his orders. Slowly, stiffly, Yin sat up. She had to follow Hei's instructions-

"Kirsi!" A familiar voice... Who?

Yin looked towards where the voice had cried from, unseeing. But she didn't need eyes to know that voice. Even though he was gasping out of breath, "Kirsi..."

She mumbled weakly, "I know that..."

* * *

"Kirsi, it's me. Eelis," he spoke again. Yin was with him in a car. The pink girl was there too, along with a man who smelled heavily of body odor... She had gone along with him because of him... Because of

"Eelis," she repeated softly, testing the name out on her tongue. It was strange. Unfamiliar. Foreign.

"That's it," He said encouragingly, his hand resting atop of both of hers. Warm. Nostalgic. Unfamiliar... and yet... "Remember..."

Mr. Katenin whispering over her shoulder as he guided her through her piano lessons.

Mr. Kastenin's patient tone, and puzzling riddles...

She remembered... She knew this man. Yin nodded her head gently... It all was starting to flow back to her. The memories that were hers... Yin's... Kirsi's... She felt Mr. Kastenin sag in relief, knowing a smile was on his face without needing to see it...

Yes... she knew him...

* * *

Mr. Kastenin had taken her, to a place that smelled the familiar scent of cigarettes. A television played off to the side. The pink girl had place something upon her head, and was playing with it somehow. Yin didn't know what she was doing. It wasn't uncomfortable though... She held the bowl of candy in her hands, untouched, her appetite for sweets not strong at the moment.

Mr. Kastenin and the smelly man were speaking in heated and concerned tones. She listened, but more out of habit than any real interest on her part. Just as she held the bowl of candy that the pink girl, Kiko, had given her. Yin had no real reason to hold it, other than Kiko told her to. And she was programmed to take orders. So, that is what she did.

Mr. Kastenin and the other man, the smelly one, were talking about leaving. This was good, she could go with them and follow Hei's orders for her to run. Yes, this seemed to be the best course of action. Kiko suddenly burst forth with an idea of her own. Something about... hot springs. Yin didn't understand. It didn't matter, though, so long as they kept moving...

* * *

The gray train rumbled along. Yin felt each bump along the way as the train click-clacked along the way. It was gray because Yin felt gray light all around her. Murky gray. She liked this light. It meant rain was to fall, and rain meant she could see everything...

If she hadn't been hollow and empty. She still wanted to go to her other self. The other side of her that called to her very being. She felt an ache in the core of her that begged her to go to it. But... But Hei had given her orders to run. He told her to go. So she went. Even if it hurt to do so. She had to follow Hei's orders. She had to listen to Hei.

"Kirsi," Mr. Kastenin's voice cut through her thoughts, and she turned her head, more out of habit than any need to look at him. "We'll be going back home soon, Kirsi."

Yin turned to Mr. Kastenin a little more, and more than a little confused she asked, "Go home?"

"Yes," she sensed Mr. Kastenin nodding, "Just like it used to be..."

Going home... What was home? Living with Mr. Kastenin? She didn't like that. She didn't. Yin turned away from Mr. Kastenin, looking down slightly and murmuring, "I don't want to..."

The atmosphere in the train changed. She could feel everyone's eyes on her... But that wasn't what mattered. What mattered was... What mattered was what she felt. She felt... Even though she was a doll... Dolls didn't have wants, or feelings. And yet...

"I don't want to..."

* * *

I hope Izanami 9 is worth the wait. Originally chapter 9 was supposed to encompass all of the Yin centric arc, Heart Unswaying on the Water's Surface. However, as time went on, and Chapter 9 was taking longer and longer to finish... I thought it'd be better if I just posted this chapter by it's self as a sign that Izanami isn't dead. It just took a nap is all.

Thanks to everyone who ever reviewed. Every review I get kinda wakes me up and helps me jot down a little more to the chapters each time. It makes me feel like this story isn't pointless, and motivates me to finish it. So thanks, all of you.

Izanami isn't dead, and I have no intention of letting it do so, so long as people are still reading it.

~WashuRight


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